The judge stated that she did not believe Brooke Skylar Richardson would go on to commit crime upon release.
Brooke Skylar Richardson, the ex-cheerleader from Ohio convicted of abusing the corpse of her stillborn baby daughter, has been released from probation nearly two years early. Richardson, of Carlisle, was convicted in September 2019 and released Wednesday after serving just 14 months of her three years community control, a form of probation.
“I am sorry for everything I have put everyone through," Richardson said in a statement. "I just want to show that I can be a normal person again, that’s all.”
Richardson was 18 years old and a high school senior when she gave birth to a baby girl in secret, then buried her in the backyard in 2017. She had kept the baby a secret, which her defense said was possible as she had an eating disorder and often saw weight fluctuations, before authorities discovered the remains about two weeks later.
After a lengthy trial, she was acquitted on charges of aggravated murder, involuntary manslaughter and child endangering. Richardson, however, was found guilty of gross abuse of a corpse and faced up to 12 months in prison, Dayton Daily News reported.
Upon her Tuesday release, the judge clarified the purpose of probation was not punishment, and that she doesn’t believe Richardson would commit any more crimes upon release.
“There is no reason for me to invest the time and resources of my probation department in supervising you,” Warren County Judge Donald Oda II, who delivered her initial sentence, told Richardson. “There is nothing in the three years I have been supervising you Ms. Richardson that leads me to believe you do not follow the rules or are going to commit any crimes in the future.”
Richardson currently has a job, is in college and is continuing with mental health treatment – all of which was required of her while she was on probation, her attorney said. She is currently working in a law office, and hopes to one day be an attorney.
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